The Lamb, the Bridegroom, the King: The Three Comings of Jesus

Uploaded: 2026-09-03T06:00:00+00:00
Description: At the end of every year, you hear a lot about Jesus. A lot. Some people simply enjoy the story of the child born in a manger in Bethlehem, without believing a single word of it.

The Lamb, the Bridegroom, the King: The Three Comings of Jesus | Stéphane Burgos | Efficient Church

Introduction

At the end of every year, you hear a lot about Jesus. A lot. Some people simply enjoy the story of the child born in a manger in Bethlehem, without believing a single word of it. Others believe Jesus was born, that he lived, that he died, but it stops there. He isn't really part of their life.

Then there are people like you and me, I hope: people for whom Christmas is a good moment, but just one day among others, because Jesus is present every day of the year, not only on December 25th. If that's how you live, it's because you've understood that Jesus is so much more than the manger.

In this sermon from December 21, 2025, Stéphane Burgos shares a hope that goes far beyond the Christmas story: Jesus came as a Lamb who died on the cross, he will return as a Bridegroom to catch away his Church, and then he will come a third time as the King who reigns over all the earth.

Outline of the Message

1. First of all: Jesus has always been there

Jesus did not begin to exist on the day he was born. He says it himself: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End" (Revelation 22:13).
His birth is not the start of his existence, it is the physical manifestation of God, God becoming man. John 1:1-4 and John 1:14 prove it: "In the beginning was the Word... and the Word became flesh."
In the Old Testament, the expression "the angel of the Lord" refers to an angel who speaks as God, who acts as God. This is called a Christophany: an appearance of Jesus before his incarnation. He saves Hagar in the desert, stops Abraham as he is about to sacrifice Isaac, speaks to Moses at the burning bush, calls Gideon, and addresses Zechariah.
Understanding this changes everything: when you pray to Jesus, you are not praying to a man, you are not praying to an angel, you are praying to God himself. If Jesus had begun to exist at his birth, he would not be God.

2. The First Coming: The Lamb who came to die

This is the only coming we have known so far. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given" (Isaiah 9:6). "She gave birth to her firstborn son... and laid him in a manger" (Luke 2:6-7).
Why this birth? So that the Word could become flesh, so that the Lamb of God could be sacrificed. If Jesus had not come as a man, he could not have been seized, tortured, and nailed to the cross. This was God's strategy.
At the cross, he did not defeat the devil for himself. He had already defeated him and cast him down to the earth. The cross is for you. It is for me. It is so that we could have the victory over Satan.
He also came as a model. In the Old Testament, no one tried to imitate God the way people try to imitate Jesus today. He is the proof that it is possible, in the flesh, to live for God.
There will only be one sacrifice. Jesus will not die twice. When he comes back for his Church, no one will be able to lay hands on him again.

3. The Second Coming: The Bridegroom who comes to catch away his Church

He will come like a thief. No one knows the day or the hour. "If therefore you will not watch, I will come as a thief" (Revelation 3:3).
The rapture is an act of grace: the Church will not experience the tribulation, what Revelation calls "the wrath of the Lamb." The Church was born to know the joy of the Lamb and the wedding of the Lamb.
Some people will not die. Those who are alive at Jesus's return will be caught up in a glorified body. The dead in Christ will rise first (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Just like on the Mount of Transfiguration: Elijah, who never died, and Moses, who was raised, both standing with Jesus.
The rapture is the moment when we will overcome death. Today, no one here has overcome death. There is only one who has: Jesus. But one day, our mortal bodies will be clothed with immortality.
So stay ready at all times, like someone who has their bags packed while waiting for the flight to be called. You won't have time to go back and get them.

4. The Third Coming: The King who comes to reign

When Jesus returns as King, it will not be quiet. "Every eye will see him, even those who pierced him" (Revelation 1:7). The whole earth will see him in his glory.
We can roughly know the timing: seven years after the start of the tribulation (2 times three and a half years). If those days were not shortened, no one would be saved, but for the sake of the elect, they will be shortened (Matthew 24:22).
"For as the lightning comes from the east and shines even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be" (Matthew 24:27). He will send his angels with a loud trumpet to gather his elect from the four winds.
Those who were caught away will return with him in glorified bodies to reign a thousand years on earth: the millennium. We will be immortal among mortals.
The rapture is the promise made to the Church. The visible reign on earth is also the promise made to the sons of Abraham: the land. Jesus will return to fulfill both.

Key Takeaways

Jesus did not begin at Christmas. He has always been there. His birth is the physical manifestation of God, not his beginning.
The cross is for you. Jesus did not die there to defeat the devil, he had already defeated him. He died there to give you, personally, the victory.
Salvation is perfect and free. Once is enough. If you have confessed your sins at the foot of the cross, stop asking for forgiveness every day as if it were not already secured.
The Church does not go through the tribulation. She is called to the joy and the wedding of the Lamb, not to his wrath.
Your hope is the return of Jesus. Not only his birth. "Therefore comfort one another with these words" (1 Thessalonians 4:18).

Personal Application

What does Christmas mean to you this year: a pleasant memory, a beautiful story, or the certainty that the one who was born will come back for you?
Is there a sin already forgiven that you keep asking forgiveness for, as if Jesus had not paid enough? What do you need to believe today to stop?
If Jesus returned before the end of your day, would your "bags" be packed? What is left unresolved in your life that you would want to have settled?
Who around you has never heard about Jesus from your own mouth? What can you do this week so that the person on your mind isn't left without it?
Does the return of Jesus truly comfort you, the way it comforted Paul's church? If not, what is still holding you back from living in this hope?

Scriptures Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

Why talk about three comings of Jesus and not just two?

Because the Bible distinguishes Jesus's return as the Bridegroom who comes to catch away his Church (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) from his return as the King visible to everyone (Matthew 24:29-31; Revelation 1:7). The two do not happen at the same time: between them lies the seven-year tribulation.

Will the Church go through the great tribulation?

No. According to the reading presented in this message, Jesus will catch away his Church before the tribulation. The Church will see the preparations, but she will not experience what Revelation calls the wrath of the Lamb. She is called to the wedding of the Lamb, not to his wrath.

Do you need to ask forgiveness every day for the same sins?

No. If you have confessed a sin to God by faith in the blood Jesus shed at the cross, it is forgiven. It is not your fasting or your efforts that save you. What saves you is believing that Jesus died once for all, for you.

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